Under the Moon
by Oliva9
Summary: We were just gathering some food with my daughter. I never thought I'd get to learn something about dragons that no one knows when we stumble upon a group of them at night, from a pair in particular: that they can love. Set somewhere after Escaping Peril. No significant spoilers, although I recommend reading that book beforehand.
**Hello everyone! Finally, after hours of correcting and searching for synonyms, my second fanfiction is finally doneee!**

 **This one took a lot longer than my other one, more than a month I think, as I wasn't as impatient to finish it. I know Talons of Power hasn't come out yet, but this is my take of the events after Escaping Peril about Moon and Winter's relationship, and I thought it'd be interesting to write it from the point of view from us humans. I happen to ship them SO hard I had to write something about them to satisfy my ferocious hunger for the ninth book. Please come out soon...**

 **I don't think there are any spoilers, but just in case I missed something, please read Escaping Peril before reading this.**

 **Enjoy!**

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I turn to look at my daughter after we finally manage to fill a bag of berries and fruits. "I think this is enough," I whisper.

She gazes at me with uncertain eyes and answers me with the same tone. "Are you sure we shouldn't search for more? It's winter and food is getting harder to find." The yellowish light of the torch is the only thing that allows me to see her face, which is full of concern.

I smile reassuringly. "Don't worry so much. This forest won't go anywhere. Besides, I'm sure the others are wondering where we are right now." What I don't say is 'both of us are too cold and tired to continue and it's dangerous even though dragons are mostly diurnal', as her pride would've kicked in.

So together, we pack our stuff and make our way back to our base. Even though it's only ten minutes away, we're diligent while we stroll through the woods, flinching at every little sound and gripping our swords at each of them. Our footsteps seem impossibly loud and the moon, hidden by the canopy, doesn't provide any light.

I didn't know it then, but that night would defy everything I thought I knew about dragons.

Not much time after we started our return, a clearing appears before us, and there, we spot a group of them.

We halt immediately and stand where we are, frozen by the view. At first, my mind yells at me to run away with my partner and hide in the nearest bush. But then I realize they're asleep, and shortly after, my curious side takes over and I get slightly closer to analyze them.

It's a really fascinating picture. As a professional hunter and a dragon expert, I've always thought the reptiles only mingled with their own species or with a selective few of the others. However, from what I can see, the group in front of us includes a whole variety of dragon tribes. There's a sandy-colored desert dragon, a small rainforest dragoness with ever-changing colors, a green water dragon and a female wind dragon with copper scales (an interesting color for her species). All of them are young in age. Although the latter is a little distance away from the group in a patch of dry grass (is it just me or is steam rising from where she's sleeping?), the formation in which all of them are laying gives the impression of mutual companionship. Watching all these deadly creatures sleeping trustingly next to other dragons they're supposed to dislike makes something warm grow inside me, knowing this is possible and that I'm in the presence of something incredibly unusual.

My daughter calls my attention by tapping my shoulder, and she looks at me inquisitively. I grin in return and mouth 'remember this scene'. She nods, albeit in confusion, and I make a note to tell her why later.

We stand there for a bit longer, but I know dragons are dangerous to be around, even while they're asleep. So I signal the girl to keep walking and we do so as silently as we can.

However, after barely moving, we come across an even more shocking scene.

This time, there's only one dragon. An _awake_ one. Fortunately, it's looking the opposite way. Quickly, I put out the fire of the torch, which earns a gasp of panic from my companion, and I make soothing motions, with my hands. If we want to avoid it, we'd have to be as silent as shadows. Therefore, I gesture my daughter to follow my lead and I advance in a crouch towards a tree split in two. The base can easily conceal the two of us and the space between it and the fallen part is wide enough for the both of us to look through, which enables me to watch the dragon without being seen.

I take a peek. It's a magnificent young male from the ice species. He's sitting with his wings tucked close to his body, looking at something in the darkness. From his stance, I can tell he's sad. Why is he here? From what I know, ice dragons are particularly fond of subzero landscapes and dislike forests. Shouldn't he be in the Northern Regions or with a pack of his own?

I'm about to take the chance to get away from him when he grumbles, and then, the shadows in front of him literally move. My breath gets caught in my throat as they squirm and unfurl themselves, revealing yet another dragon. One I've only heard of in stories.

It's an extremely rare small night dragoness hanging from a tree branch like a bat. She's probably less than 5 years old and has black scales almost all over her body, except in her belly and in the underside of her wings, which glint with silver specks. She also sports a single silver scale in the form of a teardrop next to each eye. Is that a normal feature from her species or a special trait from her? All in all, she's a beautiful dragon.

She glances tiredly at the male dragon, and he grumbles again. After that, the female somehow manages to uncoil her tail from the branch that was miraculously holding her and land gracefully on the ground. Even though she's smaller than the white dragon, her aura gives me the feeling it isn't wise to upset her.

I would've continued staring at the pair, but my companion calls my attention. She's sitting beside me and looking at me nervously while fiddling with the necklace with the meteorite part we both have, as if expecting bad news. I encourage her to watch the dragons, which she does. When she pulls back, it's with a face so full of wonder I have to smile.

And for a moment I don't know what to do. I definitely don't want to risk her life by forcing her to do this with me, but dragon sightseeing in their natural environment is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity I just can't miss, especially with a legendary dragon species involved (of course, it was a much more common occurrence to do this and end up as dragon food instead…).

She seems to understand my dilemma, because she mouths 'I stay'. I stare at her skeptically, but she gazes back at me stubbornly and I know it's useless to argue over this. So we go back to studying the dragons.

Or rather the sources of a tense staring contest. I don't know what happened while I wasn't watching, but the two in question were now glaring heatedly at each other, quite the difference from earlier. First they begin with simple noises of annoyance. However, those sounds immediately escalate in volume and turn into those full-fledged snarls that send shivers down your spine and make your hairs stand up. In addition, they also ruffle their wings, shake their spikes, whip their tails around, throw back their noble heads and crush poor flowers with their restless pacing. 'What happened between them? The male seemed so sad…' But knowing dragons, it's pretty much a mystery.

I'm nervously convinced they're about to start fighting for real when something strange happens. The white dragon lets out one final growl of frustration before he reaches at something in his ankle with his talons. I haven't noticed it earlier, but he had some kind of pouch attached to his leg. He grabs the small bag and yanks it away from its position.

As confusing as that is, it has an instant effect on the female. She drops her offensive stance and widens her eyes in shock. She stares at the ice dragon for a long time, then replies something in a much softer tone. The male does the same, and that same sadness from the beginning returns, as his whole body suddenly seems to be supporting a huge weight.

After that, only silence remains. One that speaks of things words can only dream of. I hold my breath as the two dragons stand there amid the sounds of the night, one white and the other black, waiting anxiously. Crickets chirp nonchalantly and moonlight baths anything in silver that's not hidden by shadows. Everything is still and quiet.

And the female makes the first move. She bows her head as if sharing the male's burden, approaches him carefully, and gently, she touches the side of her wing to his. I already know what this means: a sign of fraternity and trust. How could it be? These beasts were about to throttle each other and dragons are quite tenacious and difficult to dissuade from their objectives. So how did they go from violence to affection?

The black dragoness croons at the male, and he closes his eyes for a moment. He opens them, and turns his neck to look at the female. I notice how their tails entwine delicately. 'Ok, _now_ what's happening?'

For another long period, the dragons stare at each other, so I take the chance to glance at my daughter. Her eyes are stuck to the scene, just like mine were moments ago, and I wonder if she can see more than I can.

And I listen to something I can only describe as musical. A beautiful, resonating melody unlike anything else I've ever heard, or anyone for the matter. My head automatically snaps back to its original place. The dragons were _purring_.

Somewhere between time periods, the female had placed herself in front of the male and was now wrapping her wings over his body in a tight embrace. The white dragon seems surprised at her actions, but hesitantly, he also leans forward and wraps his own around her body. He sighs in content, and their purring gets louder by the second.

This is why dragons fascinate me so much. Whenever you think you know them, they always end up surprising you in ways you never see coming. They're much like humans, in a way.

The male then pulls back his head slightly and meets the female's snout with his. They gaze at each other with such tenderness I almost tear up. This exchange is only present with mates though. Is that what they are now? Dragons bound for life?

The couple part, and caress and poke their beloved's body for some time, bartering between purrs about who-knows-what, brushing their wings, holding the other's talons and being generally cuddly when the dragoness strides to the forgotten pouch. She grabs it and gives it back to the male, who ties it back to his ankle. I'm still terribly curious about that object. Why is it so important? Nonetheless, I know I'll never be able to find out.

The dragons dedicate each other one more loving look before they, to my disappointment, walk to the direction where we came from. I realize, very suddenly, what this means. 'They're going to stumble upon the other group!' Now I'm really panicked, and without thinking, I grab my partner, leave our hiding place and follow the couple. It isn't very hard to, since the flamboyant color of the male gives the pair away.

I don't even know what I'm going to do when we reach the group's sleeping place. I hide both me and my daughter behind a bush and spy on the arriving dragons.

But to my utter bewilderment, instead of starting a tantrum like I was expecting, they enter the camp nonchalantly as if it's the most natural thing in the world. The black one lies on the grass near the slumbering dragons, and after some croons, the male settles besides her. Both share one more meaningful look before the dragoness places her head on her talons and wraps her black wings over herself. The male follows by laying his head on the dragoness' neck and wrapping his own wings and tail around her again, partially blocking the precious dragon from my vision, and closes his eyes. I can still hear their quiet purrs.

I watch mystified the six snoring dragons with something akin to reverence. The pair must've known intimately the other four dragons, that's the only explanation I can come up with for their behavior. My daughter, who hasn't made a single sound of protest, calls my attention again and looks at me with wide eyes and a small grin. I smile back even though I feel kind of guilty for bringing her with me like that.

For a while we just observe the dragons in an almost relaxing atmosphere with the crickets as our only company. I don't realize until later how cold it really is and I shiver involuntarily. I still have a lot of questions though. Where did the group come from? How is it that they're together? I was particularly intrigued by the black and white couple too. Dragon mates from different species… that's unheard of. And to top it off, there's the extremely rare night dragoness.

Knowing this will probably never happen again, there isn't anything in the world I'd like more than stay and study the dragons further. The temptation is almost agonizing. There are a million reasons to do it… but there is an equal amount of them to do the exact opposite and leave. I've known friends who perished by the claws of the infamous beasts for succumbing to this desire, and if there is one thing I've learned in my years as a survivor in this dangerous world is not to dwell and _not_ take any chances (even though I break this rule more than I'd like to admit, this situation as an example). Moreover, I have my daughter to take care of, and I refuse to send her back alone.

So with much willpower, I poke my partner and jerk back my head, signaling the end of our already overstayed visit. She nods understandingly, and we stand up, certain that all the dragons are asleep.

Turns out this is another one of the cases in which I don't pay attention to the survival rules.

Because when I turn to look at the group for one last time, planning to engrave the image to my heart, I find the ice dragon staring straight at us.

His head is facing our direction and our gazes meet. His black eyes pierce my soul and I feel my heart slamming into my ribcage. Panic instantly floods me. My body goes rigid with icy fear. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' I scream at myself. I want to do something, anything, but I don't dare to take my eyes off the dragon's. He's going to roar loudly and wake up the others and lunge at us with outstretched claws and eat us and it's all going to be my fault. I can almost feel his serrated talons cutting open my throat and his teeth sinking in my chest.

However, some time passes and the male doesn't give any sign of doing any of those things. The fuzz and pounding in my head is terrible, but somehow I notice how his stare is more expectant than anything else and I manage to calm down enough for me to filter the gruesome thoughts and analyze the situation rationally.

The white dragon doesn't even look menacing. In fact the only thing that changed from his original position at all was his raised head. No bared teeth or lashing tail or analytical glare. Which _probably_ means we aren't in his present menu. For now.

My heart goes from my throat to my stomach, not quite in its proper place but not very far from it either, and I allow my limbs to relax the tiniest bit. Then I notice the real difference of the male's position. At first I think, with another panic attack, that he's advancing towards us, as his wings are wider than before completely shielding the black dragon sleeping under them and his body is leaning a little forward, crouching over the female's body. But it doesn't take much time before I realize his true intentions.

He's protecting the dragoness. And by logic, the whole group.

I don't think he'd attack us though. His stance was too relaxed for him to be considering that option, not to mention his eyes, which are both curious and cautious. Nonetheless, I don't take any chances, just like I'm supposed to. After all that has happened, dragons now strike me as even more unpredictable, and therefore, dangerous. I finally gather enough courage to look away from those moonlit black voids and I touch my daughter's arm lightly, who's also tensed in anticipation and fear. She glances bravely at me, and slowly, I start walking away. She does the same.

I can't resist looking at the mysteries called dragons one more time. The male is still looking at us with the female under his protective body, and the moon keeps on bathing the reptiles as if they're the answer to all the problems, the light within the dark.

It seems like an eternity, but soon, we find ourselves surrounded by blackness again and in our way back to the base somehow safe and sound, feeling the ice dragon's stare the entire way.

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 **Thanks so much for reading! Please review and tell me if it was of your liking or not.**

 **PS: I recommend listening to "Look Through My Eyes" of Phil Collins. I think it describes Moon and Winter's relationship pretty well. And yes, I listen to a lot of music for inspiration to write my fics.**

 **PSS: It's kind of sad that Wings of Fire isn't as well-known as it should be. I absolutely loved the series, and I'm hoping for something else besides some books, maybe a video game. That'd be awesome.**


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